Kawari
by Kryal
Summary: A crossover with Aa! Megami-Sama!, but in a fairly limited sense. I'm considering changing the title to 'Divine Intervention.' The premise is: what if Ranma went beyond needing help, to the point of needing a...
1. Prologue

_(A.N. – Don't kill me, this was a random idea. Regardless, none of them belong to me… sadly. Have fun reading, and let me know if I should continue. –Kryal (Cally)_

Kawari – Replacement

Prologue

                The young mother sat quietly on the bench and watched the others of her ilk moving happily about the park, laughing and chattering about the antics of their young ones. The children scampered about, carefree and happy, their delightful laughter ringing like music through the softly swaying tree branches.

                It hadn't been more than a few months since she'd been among them, leading a delightful little cherub about by the hand and laughingly scolding him when he got himself into a childish scrape or squabble. He'd been better about getting himself away from messes because of his father's teachings, and the other children had come to view him as their guardian against the bullies. That had finally been what had convinced her to let the man take him away…

                Her hands clenched in her lap as she watched a handsome youth demonstrating a simple but elegant kata to a group of slightly older children, children who had achieved some level of coordination. She had to tell herself, it wouldn't be that long before she'd be seeing her own boy doing the same, teaching a few simple tricks that would protect the innocent from the clumsy brutes who would take advantage on a child who was more slender or quieter than they. She had to tell herself that.

                It would be too painful, to think anything else.

                "Excuse me?" She started and looked up. The young martial artist was standing next to her. She had been so lost in her own thoughts that she hadn't even seen him approach. "Are you waiting for someone?"

                She shook her head quickly to clear it. "Ah… no. Please, sit down."

                "Thank you." He sat on the bench and leaned back, quietly watching the sway of the branches overhead.

                "I saw you demonstrating to those children," she said quietly, finding that she didn't really want to fall back into her sad thoughts. "You're quite skilled."

                "That?" He looked surprised. "You flatter me. It was a basic beginner's kata…"

                "That's how I knew. It may have been simple, but your ease in it and your grace clearly showed that you were a Master."

                He smiled. "Very observant of you, Miss…?"

                "_Mrs. Saotome," she corrected firmly. "Saotome Nodoka." She smiled to soften her tone. "My family are all martial artists, as is my husband."_

                "Rats, are _all the beautiful ones taken?" The laughing sparkle in his eyes turned the border-line scandalous comment into an easy joke, and Nodoka found herself laughing. The young man brought his head up to glance around the park. "Is that your husband over there?" he asked, indicating a tall man who was watching a group of children with laugh-lines creasing his face._

                "No," she said sadly, running Genma's craggy, shouting, intimidated face through her mind. "No, he's away on a training trip with our son."

                The young man was a wonderful listener. Nodoka was astounded to find herself opening up to him, telling him about her young Ranma, the boy's easy laugh, happy nature, and his intuitive abilities in martial arts even at the tender age of six. She even told him about the seppuku promise, and although his face betrayed his thoughts on _that, he said nothing. The entire experience left her feeling… purged, cleansed. It was cathartic._

                "Thank you for listening," she said with genuine relief. "I really needed it."

                He waved a hand. "It was my pleasure, believe me." He got up and offered a hand. "The sun is going down," he noted. "Would you grant a young man the grace of escorting you home?"

                Normally, a lone woman such as Nodoka was would have been wary of such an offer. But her martial arts training had taught her much about sensing a threat, and they told her that this young man was the opposite of anything she should fear. "Thank you," she said, with a soft smile, accepting his hand. Together, they walked down the darkening streets. Once, a group of footpads began to move towards them, but a hard glare from the pair convinced them to seek out less able prey.

                "I could wish for my son to have such a guardian!" Nodoka laughed after the encounter.

                The young man smiled at her, his bright blue eyes sparkling with amusement. "I'm sure that he'll take care of himself. Besides, if he's anything like you, he'll find a guardian when he needs one. It just happens, in my experience. Perhaps that's the universe's way of trying to make up for the mess that most humans experience in their lives."

                "Still… I am his mother. Worrying about him is my prerogative." Nodoka sighed unhappily.

                "None of that! Just remember, he'll come back. It may take a while, but he will come back. Is this your house?"

                Nodoka blinked. "Ah… yes, thank you."

                "It was my pleasure. Sun shine on your path, Saotome-san." He bowed and walked away.

                "And yours…" Nodoka blinked, suddenly realizing that she'd forgotten to get his name.

                "And oh, by the way?" He turned back at the corner, about to step out of sight. She caught the flash of a mysterious smile. "Your Wish is granted."


	2. Here We Go Again

CHAPTER ONE

Here We Go Again

                "Ranma-kun! Auntie is on the phone for you!" Kasumi called brightly.

                Ranma heaved a sigh as he brought the kata to a close and turned to leave the dojo. "Whazzup?"

                Kasumi handed him the phone. "I'm not sure, but it sounds like she's very happy." Kasumi was talented at noticing bright, cheerful things, Ranma had noticed. It was quite refreshing to talk to her.

                Putting the phone to his ear, he said, "Moshi moshi, ofukuro?"

                "//Konnichiwa, Ranma. Guess what tomorrow is?//"

                He thought for a moment, eyes crossing for a moment with the effort, but came up with a blank. "Ahhh… Thursday?"

                Nodoka's chuckle carried all the way through the phone line. "//No, silly. It's your birthday. And I have a _very special present, but I'm afraid that I have to give it to you early. Are you by yourself right now?//"_

                Raising his eyebrow at the odd request, Ranma glanced around. Kasumi had returned to the kitchen and Soun was sitting on the porch (gomen, don't know the right term), but other than that, everyone had left. "Mostly. Kasumi's in the kitchen…"

                "//That will be fine. She's such a nice young lady, I'm sure she'll understand.//" There was an odd double-meaning to those words that Ranma could detect, even if he couldn't understand _why they would be that way. "//You probably ought to sit down for this.//"_

                Thoroughly confused, he did so.

                Then Nodoka spoke the words that a sealed part of him had been awaiting for years. "//It's over now. You're free.//" 

                Information slammed into his head and Ranma felt every nerve, every muscle, every atom both physical and spiritual react. It was as though his universe had decided to rewrite every law that he knew of and make them into something different.

                It was like heaven, hell and purgatory all at the same time.

                When it was over, he shook his head fiercely to clear the last sparks and noticed that a strange, scintillating dust was also shaken off, though it vanished before it touched the floor. Still vibrating with the energy of what happened, he reached down and picked the phone up from where he'd dropped it. "Are you still there?"

                "//No, but I am,//" a very familiar voice replied.

                Ranma felt the beginnings of a very Nabiki-like smile spread on his lips. "Well. Well, well, well. I haven't heard from _you in real life in quite some time."_

                "//I owe you more than I can ever repay. Then again, knowing you, you'd never accept the debt.//"

                "You _should know me by now. I trust the dreaming worked, then?"_

                "//I'm not your level, but I can handle them. I'm close to what you were, but I dare say I'm a bit more socialized!//" The voice's laughter faded as he became serious again. "//We're ending this all tomorrow. The meeting's already arranged. All that's left is your part.//"

                "Oh, thanks for the advance notice," Ranma said with cheerful sarcasm. "I'll meet you at the usual place, then, and we can discuss everything. Okaasan will be there too, but you'll have to show her the way."

                "//Eh…oh. Gotcha. You have a point; Nabiki's not going to be able to eavesdrop on this one, will she?//"

                "Not if I have a say." The sound of the door opening and closing made him glance up. "Shi…shoot, the danger zone is back online. Listen, I'll talk to you in the usual place, but I need to go now. Ja ne."

                "//Ja ne, and break a leg.//"

                He laughed briefly. "I'm trying to avoid broken bones, not get them!" He quickly hung up, just as Nabiki and Akane walked in.

                "Who was that, Saotome?" Nabiki asked, suspiciously, with a gleam of avarice in her eyes.

                Ranma just smiled and held his hand out. "What's the information worth to you?"

                That one earned him a blink as Nabiki looked from his hand, to his face, to the phone and back. "That depends… I'm sure I'll find it out from another source soon though. Especially if it was one of the fiancées…"

                Akane's eyes narrowed, but before she could start down her well-worn spiral of suspicion Ranma laughed. "Oh, please! Sheesh, Nabiki, all you have to do is ask Kasumi, she's the only one who ever actually answers the phone around here. And the others would have crunched the door down or made their own if they wanted to talk to me. That was just my mother."

                "Oh really? And why was she calling?" Nabiki's eyes brightened. No one saw much of Nodoka, since she had agreed that Ranma should stay with the Tendos. When she did contact the family, that was a clear sign that _something interesting (= profitable) either was going on or would happen soon._

                "Why should she have a reason? She's my mother. She's invoking her natural maternal prerogative of calling her son to talk to him." Ranma grinned and went outside to the dojo again, leaving the two girls to blink at each other as they tried to absorb the fact that it was _Ranma using all those fancy polysyllabic words in one sentence._

                Everyone was there. Nodoka had invited each fiancée and rival. Even Ryouga was there, although he wondered at Ranma's mysterious smile. Rumors were flying. Officially, the meeting was to celebrate Ranma's reaching legal adulthood (against all odds), but hints had been dropped that the business of fiancées was to be finally settled that day as well.

                The only ones who were not fired up about this meeting were Ku Lon and Happosai, and neither knew why. All they knew was that something had changed about Ranma when he met them at the door. There was an air of assurance and control around him that disturbed the two elderly warriors. They knew that Ranma had always been much stronger than he let on. If this new feeling of confidence was an indication that he was going to start taking active control of his life, then chances were that they would not be able to do anything but accept it.

                Ranma, for his part, was actually enjoying himself. Somehow he managed to be everywhere that he was needed, and yet none of his fiancées could locate him in time to pin him down and make him talk. He knew it was wrong, but he still couldn't help laughing at their frustration as they kept going in circles, trying to figure out where he was hiding. The most interesting part was that Nabiki was doing much the same thing as he was, although her reasons were the opposite. Although not for lack of trying, she had not been able to get _any information on what was coming. This left her with awkward choice of admitting that she didn't know and ruining her reputation, or missing out on the party._

                Revenge was too, too sweet.

                Nodoka was acting extremely mysterious as well. She refused to answer any questions, just smiled and said, "You will know when it is time." Out of everyone there, she and Ranma made up the three people who actually knew anything.

                Yes, _three. During the party, Ranma had slipped upstairs to let his one secret friend in through the open window. Now his friend was in hiding, just waiting for the right moment to come out._

                "This is gonna be great," he said to no one in particular.

                "Hell yeah," his friend replied, grinning and giving him a shove to propel him toward the door. "Now get out there and play interference before someone comes in here and finds _me!"_

                "We wouldn't want that," he agreed. "Just make sure you're ready when the time comes."

                "Wouldn't miss it for a trip to Heaven," the other grinned back.

                Ranma rolled his eyes. "If we don't work this just right, that's exactly what you're going to get," he reminded the other boy, before descending the stairs during a brief lull when no one was looking.


End file.
